Three Reasons "The Denny" is Perfect For Seattle

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This week we reported that The Denny—a locally conceived creation by design firm TEAGUE and Sizemore Bicycle—was named the big winner of the Oregon Manifest’s “Bike Design Project” competition, which paired design firms with bicycle developers to see which city could produce the bike of the future. After voting on entries from across the nation, the public agreed: The Denny is the shit. We could have told them that. While it exists only in prototype at this point (and has no price), there’s a lot to be excited about regarding Seattle’s bike of the future. Here are three reasons for us to start saving for The Denny now:

The handlebars (aka bike lock) Having your bike stolen sucks, and in Seattle it’s an all-too-common phenomenon. Hell, the Seattle Police Department even maintains a Twitter account specifically designed to help reunite citizens with their stolen bicycles (the appropriately named @GetYourBikeBack). That’s why The Denny’s handlebar, which doubles as a detachable bike lock, is so damn brilliant. “I think the handlebar was the key unique feature that may have pushed the needle for us,” TEAGUE creative director Roger Jackson tells us. He’s probably right, because it’s genius.

The electric motor for hills There are moments when getting your bike stolen doesn’t seem like such a bad idea—usually about the time you get halfway up one of our many hills and the lactic acid burning through your quads becomes unbearable. For times like these, which can dominate a biking experience for all but the most hardcore Seattle cyclists, The Denny smartly features an electric motor in the front wheel. Even better: The battery to power it is easily detachable and rechargeable, and a computerized gear mechanism shifts automatically according to terrain. It’s just the kind of thing that can help convert even lukewarm cyclists into two-wheeled warriors. “That was really our goal,” Jackson says of designing a bike with the bells and whistles to get average Seattleites into biking.

The lights Trust us: Before long, it’s going to be dark by 4:30 p.m. And that’s going to be miserable. And it’s going to be miserable for a long time. Such is the unfortunate nature of fall and winter in Seattle. The good news is that The Denny is prepared for these cold, dark certainties. Featuring pre-installed lights that are sensitive to outside light and adjust to brightness accordingly, and adorned with brake lights and turn signals activated by simply flicking the brakes (for safety and style, yo!), The Denny seems specifically built for pedaling in Seattle’s dark months—which it probably was.

mdriscoll@seattleweekly.com

Art Credit: "Lightning" by Ryan Oksenhorn and "Idea" by Takao Umehara from The Noun Project